Nietzsche, the Godfather of Fascism? What can Nietzsche have in common with this murderous ideology? Frequently described as the "radical aristocrat" of the spirit, Nietzsche abhorred mass culture and strove to cultivate an Ubermensch endowed with exceptional mental qualities. What can such a thinker have in common with the fascistic manipulation of the masses for chauvinistic goals that crushed the autonomy of the individual? The question that lies at the heart of this collection is how Nietzsche came to acquire the deadly "honor" of being considered the philosopher of the Third Reich and whether such claims had any justification. Does it make any sense to hold him in some way responsible for the horrors of Auschwitz? The editors present a range of views that attempt to do justice to the ambiguity and richness of Nietzsche's thought. First-rate contributions by a variety of distinguished philosophers and historians explore in depth Nietzsche's attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, Christianity, anti-Semitism, and National Socialism. They interrogate Nietzsche's writings for fascist and anti-Semitic proclivities and consider how they were read by fascists who claimed Nietzsche as their intellectual godfather. There is much that is disturbingly antiegalitarian and antidemocratic in Nietzsche, and his writings on Jews are open to differing interpretations. Yet his emphasis on individualism and contempt for German nationalism and anti-Semitism put him at stark odds with Nazi ideology. The Nietzsche that emerges here is a tragic prophet of the spiritual vacuum that produced the twentieth century's totalitarian movements, the thinker who best diagnosed the pathologies of fin-de-siecle European culture. Nietzsche dared to look into the abyss of modern nihilism. This book tells us what he found. The contributors are Menahem Brinker, Daniel W. Conway, Stanley Corngold, Kurt Rudolf Fischer, Jacob Golomb, Robert C. Holub, Berel Lang, Wolfgang Muller-Lauter, Alexander Nehamas, David Ohana, Roderick Stackelberg, Mario Sznajder, Geoffrey Waite, Robert S. Wistrich, and Yirmiyahu Yovel.

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"A serious and rewarding look at Nietzsche the thinker."--Adam Kirsch, New York Sun

"A superb set of essays covering all aspects of Nietzschean thought."--Michael Milston, The Jewish Quarterly

"An excellent new collection of essays."--Jonathan Ree, Times Literary Supplement

-A serious and rewarding look at Nietzsche the thinker.---Adam Kirsch, New York Sun

-An excellent new collection of essays.---Jonathan Ree, Times Literary Supplement

-A superb set of essays covering all aspects of Nietzschean thought.---Michael Milston, The Jewish Quarterly

From the Back Cover

"Addressing the question of Nietzsche's relationship to fascism in complex ways, this is an impressive, important, and varied volume. It presents a series of morsels for the reader and is a solid addition to both the literature on Nietzsche and that on fascism."--Sander L. Gilman, University of Illinois, Chicago

"The cumulative effect of these essays contributes to the discussion of the relationship between Nietzsche and fascism and between Nietzsche and anti-Semitism. This book looks at both how to read the 'nasty' parts of Nietzsche and how to read what various people who used or read Nietzsche in a potentially 'nasty' way made of him."--Tracy B. Strong, University of California, San Diego

Top customer reviews

There is some merit to debunking Nietzsche's supposed connection to some of the more infamous aspects of fascism as they have existed, but the focus on that task of debunking misses the point. In fairness to this book, that is not its only purpose, but in tying its content to the debate of Nietzsche's connection to Fascism in this way, it ends up missing out on the real underlying issue.

Was Nietzsche a Nazi (that is, did he write everything the Nazis stood for)? No, in some ways he would have opposed what the Nazis did. The problem that arises with this book, of dealing with the argument in this fashion, is that some of the focus becomes lost on what Nietzsche actually stood for, it ultimately remains unclear.

For this reason, the contributors of this book are never able to reach a full affirmation that Nietzsche is a precursor of fascism, and beyond that make it clear precisely why, it is too tied up in the debate of polemics to set the record straight. There is a clear and definite reason why Nietzsche was adopted by fascist ideologues, despite the fact that they diverged from his teaching, perhaps opposed it on certain matters. Nietzsche's work was not taken as something like biblical scripture, always consulted, studied, interpreted in a scholastic manner, applying his thoughts to various problems. The fascist ideology builders had other disparate influences from which they picked and chose. This is pointed to in the book (Immanuel Kant was big in Nazi scholarship, for example), but the way it is presented makes it unclear what this actually means. It's like a constant teetering, did Nietzsche influence the ideology or did he not? There is an either/or at work despite the effort to remain neutral and present a coherent many sided explication of the issue.

For Nietzsche's connection to fascism to be truly understood, a full and clear explication of his own teaching must be presented, which would not be without problems for the scholarship. The main issue which would then arise is how the ideas that were adoptable to fascism would be drowned out by others that were irrelevant to that particular issue, which is where the problem of these types of polemical studies arises. To present only the aspects of Nietzsche's philosophy that are congruent with fascism is to present him as a protofascist, which isn't entirely fair either.

This is actually a Nietzschean problem in any case. He would not really believe in fairness in the moralistic sense. Nietzsche felt in any case that much our actions (including interpretation and speech) are the result of instinctual drives that set out to support ourselves. In this way even a polemical study of Nietzsche that denies him is really more Nietzschean than a "fair" study, because tied up in polemics is the will to power.

In case you're wondering about some of the defining aspects which made Nietzsche ammenable to fascism, you must understand that his interpretation of nature which he calls "immoral" means that he will look at nature and describe it without seeking out moral categories. If we see the strong conquer the weak, he does not interpret it as evil conquering the good, he would describe it merely as the way of nature. It is for this reason that he rejected Christianity, because it wished to impose moral categories onto nature. He also saw Christianity as nature denying. St. Augustine wrote that good Christians must reject the material world as dominated by evil and look forward to an afterlife under God where good finally reigns.

Nietzsche saw that view as nihilism, life rejecting. Nietzsche felt that the only way to overcome nihilism was to affirm all that was true of life, which included species vying for power, the strong conquering the weak, aristocracy, which was the rule of the strong, the smart, the noble, and affirmation of slavery, which was the conquering of the weak and ignoble.

In this sense there is a desire in Nietzsche's philosophy to understand the world realistically, what is truly going on here? Is the world run by "moral laws" as the Christians (and later the secular Humanists) supposed, or were there other "immoral" (non-moral) things going on? How could we learn to accept and appreciate life for what it is?

Nietzsche did not deny that his philosophy was dangerous.

The questions that arise then are, is this truly how nature is? If it is, how do we deal with this aspect of nature? Can we learn to love a life that possesses these qualities? How? If peoples follow Nietzsche and affirm his philosophy, what will the results look like in an active government?

The book _Nietzsche: Godfather of Fascism?_ consists of a series of essays by various scholars and philosophers dealing with the question of the relationship between Nietzsche's philosophy and Nazism and Fascism as well as anti-Semitism. Friedrich Nietzsche, who has been described as a "radical aristocrat" and "the last anti-political German", a precursor of nihilism, remains a problematic and enigmatic (if not contradictory) thinker to this day. Nietzsche espoused contempt for "herd values" and "slave morality" and such political developments as democracy, liberalism, egalitarianism, and socialism, as well as for Christianity and the morality it espoused and Judaism. However, at the same time, he also expressed contempt for anti-Semitism, Richard Wagner (who he was initially a disciple of) and his followers, German nationalism, the German Reich, and Germans. Nietzsche praised German Jews (possibly regarding them as a catalyst for his imperialist aspirations of European renewal, and as a precursor to the Ubermensch, in one interpretation of his writings), had Jewish friends including Paul Ree (who may have influenced his decision to separate himself from Wagner and anti-Semitism in general), and expressed Francophile sentiments as well. On the the other hand, in many of his letters Nietzsche did express contempt for both Judaism and Christianity (although he praised the Old Testament), individual Jews, and may have believed in certain racist theories to an extent which were popular at the time (indeed, he frequently referenced the codification of the Aryan caste system in _The Laws of Manu_ as an ideal, and praised the Greeks and Romans as well as ancient slavery). In light of this, an assessment of Nietzsche in terms of his relationship to fascism (and national socialism) or his role as a possible proto-fascist has proven difficult for scholars and opinions vary widely. Added to this difficulty is the issue of Nietzsche's madness (rumored to have been brought on by syphillis, although probably without basis in fact) at the end of his life, and the subsequent role of his sister Elisabeth Forster-Nietzsche in the preparation of his manuscripts. Elisabeth Forster-Nietzsche was married to a notorious anti-Semite and later would come to support the Nazis and Hitler, although she herself was not anti-Semitic (oddly enough). In addition, Nietzsche's philosophy was expropriated by certain Nazi philosophers including Alfred Baumler, Heinrich Hartle, and of course Martin Heidegger and Alfred Rosenberg who managed to smooth over his anti-anti-Semitism and anti-Germanism; although, other Nazi theorists argued that Nietzsche was an anti-Nazi and thus contrary to their movement. Hitler (although likely to have never read Nietzsche, at least not extensively) frequently mentioned Nietzschian motifs in his writings, speechs, and talks, and did pay homage to Nietzsche by visiting his sister at the Nietzsche Archives. Mussolini and the Italian fascist d'Annunzio were ardent Nietzschians on the other hand, both having read his works, and frequently quoting from him (especially the dictum "live dangerously"), and using his ideas in their political movement. On the other hand, philosophers such as Georges Bataille, Karl Jaspers, and for Amerians particularly Walter Kaufmann have argued that Nietzsche would have disdained National Socialism (Kaufmann in particular presenting a very sanitized portrayal of Nietzsche, and placing much of the blame for his "misinterpretation" upon N.'s sister). Thus, the relationship of Nietzsche to fascism remains problematic. Indeed, many have tried to pigeon-hole Nietzsche relating his essentially anti-political philosophy to anarchism, aristocratic conservativism, or fascism. Orthodox Marxists reject Nietzsche arguing that he is indeed a precursor to fascism; while leftist postmodern academics have praised him and his project of "revaluation of values". Essays in this book deal with Nietzsche's responsibility (whatever it may be) for Nazism, Nietzsche and Hitler, Nietzsche and the Jews, Nietzsche and Wagner, Nietzsche's anti-Christian atheism and anti-Judaism, Nietzsche's imperialism (his call for a restoration of Europe along classical Greek and Roman lines), the relationship between Nietzsche and the poet Holderlin (both succumbing to madness and both praised by the Third Reich), an interesting essay arguing that Nietzsche's sister should not be scapegoated for his misappropriation by fascists (contrary to the thinking that clouds much of the extant writing on Nietzsche in American circles), an essay on Nietzsche and Mussolini emphasizing the Italian fascist poet d'Annunzio and his relationship to Nietzsche's thought, an essay on Ernst Junger and his relationship to Nietzsche (emphasizing the role of "reactionary modernism" in the conservative revolutionary thinkers which existed in Germany prior to the rise of Hitler including the philosopher Martin Heidegger), and an essay by a leftist postmodern academic arguing against an otherwise interesting thesis by conservative thinker Ernst Nolte. These essays compose a good collection of material relating to Nietzsche, his successors, and his relationship to fascism and national socialism in their various guises.Also recommended: _Heidegger's Crisis_ by Hans Sluga.

4.0 out of 5 starsCompelling and Comprehensive look at Nietzsche and Fascism

ByStephanie M. Dedovitchon 10 April 2007 - Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

I came upon this book because I was doing a research paper on the Nazi Party and their use of Nietzsche. I had read alot of Walter Kaufmann's works in the past as well as other authors who argue without a doubt that Nietzsche was abused by the Nazi Party. While I agree with this, this book provides various viewpoints on whether or not Nietzsche really advocated proto-Nazi views and how Nietzsche would have regarded Hitler and the party. If you know anything about Nietzsche, you will understand that given his philosophy, he would not have necessarily condemned the Nazi Party and Hitler in the same way we in the modern day have done. This book is inspiring and often breaks with the Kaufmann tradition instead of simply reaffirming it. The introduction is especially wonderful and the authors range from political theorists to famous philosophers. If you like Nietzsche and/or you are interested in his connection with fascism, this is 100% the book worth buying. If you are simply interested in German fascism and its founders, I think a larger compilation would suit you better but this book was my main tool in writing the final paper for my class.

The Nietzsche mystique is one of the puzzles of modern philosophy. He is a hard man to understand, which too often leaves the obvious facts of shadowy side invisible in plain sight. Does anyone actually believe what he says. This series of essays is a useful critical series neither in a debunking nor a booby prize mode, many essays simply examining the parts that conflict with celebrity myth--facing reality: Nietzsche is bound up in the fascist tragedy.